News from a Changing Planet -- This Week on Earth #26

A selection of writing about COP28: what it means, what matters.

Depending on who you ask, COP 28 was historic, an opportunity, a tragedy or a betrayal, or exactly what many have come to expect from a global summit where sometimes big things happen, and sometimes it seems like more of the same. I think all of these things are probably true in some measure, but I thought today I would offer up a platter of reporting and you can make up your mind, since I’m not quite sure what to think.

But before that, if I may…as I look back on the first full year+ of the revamped, new and improved News from a Changing Planet, I’m doing my own Global Stock Take of what I think worked well and what didn’t, and wondering if any of you readers have thoughts on what you’d like to see next year, what you liked and what you didn’t, and any other feedback. I’d be so grateful for it.

Speaking of things to be grateful for, you could make someone in your life very grateful by *gifting them* a *paid subscription* to News from a Changing Planet! For the person who has everything! For the person who is rejecting material gifts because they are trying to limit their environmental impact! For the person who denies the science of climate change! For the person who embraces the science of climate change! For a student! For a teacher! For yourself, if you’re a free subscriber - we all deserve a little self-love this holiday season! You can give anonymously and fulfill a dream of being Santa! It’s the perfect gift for one and all!

And now back to the news:

Outside the summit while negotiators worked out a deal. Credit Amr Alfiky for Reuters

WHAT NEGOTIATORS AT COP28 ACTUALLY ACHIEVED: Historic language but lacking the necessary measures. (Reuters)

The deal reached by more than 200 countries at Cop28 (the UAE Consensus) was the first ever agreement that included anything about at some point ending the use of fossil fuels, but limiting warming to 1.5ºC by 2050 (the terms of the Paris agreement) is unlikely, according to an assessment by the International Energy Agency.

The agreement, described by the New York Times as “sweeping,” calls on the global community to “transition away” from fossil fuels in a “just, orderly and equitable manner,” and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Though there is nothing legally binding about this agreement (or the Paris agreement), it calls on countries to reduce methane emissions and triple the amount of renewable energy capacity by the end of this decade.

What stands out (to me) in all of this (among other things): fossil fuels were never mentioned before! “Humanity has finally done what is long, long, long overdue,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the European commissioner for climate action. “Thirty years — 30 years! — we spent to arrive at the beginning of the end of fossil fuels.”

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi oil minister also likes the agreement. Credit Fayez Nureldine for Agence France-Presse via Getty Images via New York Times

WHAT DOES THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY SAY? SOUNDS GOOD TO US!: The world’s biggest emitters have no problem with the deal. (New York Times)

Some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies said they were fine with the agreement, having worked very hard behind the scenes and also in front of the scenes to remove language about a “phase down” or “phase out” of fossil fuels, which is what scientists and activists have said is the very least that the moment requires. The deal includes language about natural gas being a necessary part of the energy transition and highlights a key role for carbon capture and storage or sequestration, which many in the environmental community/non-fossil-fuel industry see as a giant loophole, allowing fossil fuel companies and other high-emitting industries to keep emitting forever, rather than winding down the use of these fuels altogether. This is not entirely surprising, given that the summit was hosted by the United Arab Emirates, a petrostate, and the chief is head of the country's state-run oil company.

A map of some of the members of the Alliance of Small Island States. Credit Alliance of Small Island States

SMALL ISLAND NATIONS, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, ACTIVISTS FIND LESS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT: “Business as usual,” “unfair,” “inequitable” according to some. (The Guardian)